What are the best ways to assign code review responsibilities?

2 Identify the roles of code reviewers

Code reviewers come in many forms, each with their own perspectives, expectations, and responsibilities. Peer reviewers, for instance, work on the same or similar features or modules as the code author and can provide feedback on the functionality, logic, and style of the code. Senior reviewers, on the other hand, have more experience and expertise and can provide guidance on the architecture, design, and performance of the code. Lead reviewers are the developers who have the authority to approve or reject code changes, ensuring that it meets project requirements, standards, and goals. Depending on their roles, you can decide who should review what code, how much, and how often.

4 Use a code review tool

Using a code review tool is one of the best ways to assign code review responsibilities. Such a software application can provide features such as code hosting and version control, code diff and annotation, and code review workflow and automation. This allows you to store, manage, and track the code changes in a central repository; compare and highlight the differences between the original and modified code; add comments and suggestions; define and follow a consistent and efficient code review process; automate tasks such as assigning reviewers, sending notifications, and merging code. Popular examples of such tools are GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gerrit.

5 Establish a code review policy

Establishing a code review policy is another great way to assign code review responsibilities. This policy outlines rules and guidelines that define and regulate the code review process for your web application project. It should cover the scope and frequency of code review, the criteria and standards of code review, the roles and responsibilities of code reviewers, and the feedback and approval process. This will help ensure that code reviews are conducted more clearly, consistently, and fairly. Additionally, it can help you determine what types of code changes require review, what quality, security, and performance metrics should be met or followed, who should review which code, how many reviewers are needed, how the code reviewers and the code author should communicate and collaborate, how feedback should be resolved, and how the code changes should be approved or rejected.

6 Evaluate and improve the code review process

The final best way to assign code review responsibilities is to evaluate and improve the code review process. This process should be dynamic and evolving, with regular monitoring, measuring, and analyzing of its effectiveness and efficiency. It's also important to collect and act on feedback from code reviewers and authors. To do this, you can use metrics and indicators such as number, size, and duration of code reviews; number and type of comments; satisfaction; engagement; and impact on code quality. Additionally, surveys and interviews can provide opinions and experiences from reviewers and authors. Finally, experiments and tests can try out new or different ways of assigning code review responsibilities, such as changing reviewers or criteria. By evaluating and improving the code review process, you can ensure that you assign responsibilities in the most optimal way for your web application project.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?